R454 What Would Jesus Do?

It's a bracelet, it's a trendy phrase, but it's also a great truth. What would Jesus do? Let's study the word together. This is The Encouraging Word featuring the Bible base, preaching of Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, evangelist, and pastor.

And today, his message is that simple phrase, what would Jesus do? We'll head to both 2 Chronicles and Matthew 6 in our Bible study today. But before we get started, know that we're available for you. We're connecting keyboard to keyboard right now, online at tewonline.org. That's tewonline.org, but we still believe there's great strength in a conversation and would love to speak with you on the phone at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. If you'd like to call and sign up for The Daily Encouraging Word email, just give us your email. We'll take care of it.

Now, Dr. Wilton. I want you to turn with me to two verses of Scripture. The first is going to be in 2 Chronicles chapter 7. We know this passage, we know it well, but I want you to read it. I want you to listen with me. Please turn there, it's important. There is a Bible provided for you. 2 Chronicles, difficult to find but right there in the middle of the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 14. I want us as God's people to listen. I want you to listen.

It's a condition. That means that certain things will happen only if we meet God's condition. They won't happen because we want them to happen or because we believe they will happen. They will happen on God's timetable, according to God's standards and by His mandate. 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land.

Have you heard the word of God this morning? Now I want you to turn with me to Matthew's Gospel chapter 5. In Matthew chapter 5 we have what are known as the Beatitudes. This was a series of teachings that Jesus gave to the people that He called His disciples. You might say to me, well pastor, I'm just a Christian. I'm not a disciple.

No, sir. If you are a Christian, you are a disciple. You cannot be a Christian without being a disciple. A disciple is someone who follows Jesus Christ and all Christians follow Jesus Christ. Not all disciples are disciple makers. That means that not all disciples have got to the point at which they are maturing in their faith and are themselves leading other people to become disciples. That's a disciple maker.

But all believers are disciples and Jesus spoke to His disciples and He told them something about themselves. He said in chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel and verse 13, He said, You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Salt is a marvelous substance. Many things we can say about salt. I'm not going to dwell on it, but Jesus said that those who love Him are salt.

Three things that I think are very pertinent today. First of all, salt is a preservative. It preserves goodness. That's what salt does. Jesus said that God's people preserve goodness.

I want you to think about that today, September 13th, and I want you to think about what is happening in our nation today. We have a responsibility to preserve the good. Number two, salt prevents decay. If I can put that into classical English expression, salt prevents the rot. Salt stops things from becoming bad, rotting, from becoming putrid, smelly. That's what salt does. Salt enables food which is good still to be eaten, even long after the fact. Number three, salt provides flavor.

Nothing like a good plate of food and then when you add a pinch of salt it just does something to it. It gives it a special taste. The Bible says that Jesus taught His disciples that as disciples, as believers, as people who follow Jesus Christ, that we are not only to preserve, we're not only to prevent decay, but we are to provide taste. Yes, in a tasteless society. We are the ones who provide taste. We don't contribute to the tastelessness.

Because as salt we provide flavor. I want to ask two questions by way of introduction this morning. And before I do I'm going to make a statement. I'm going to submit to you today that I believe that it is far more important what we conclude from all that is going on in Washington than how we conclude all that is going on in Washington.

It is far more important for Americans and particularly for God's people. It is far more important what we conclude from all of this. What is God saying to us? What lessons are we going to learn?

How much better are the people are we going to become? It is far more important what we conclude from all of this than how we conclude all of this, i.e. to exonerate, to forgive, but what we conclude from all of this is very important. And so let me ask two questions today as I begin to try to share with you what is upon this pastor's heart from the word of God. The first question is this, what is going on? And it is not my business today in God's house to dwell upon what is going on. The issue is this, where do we go?

That's the next question before we try to discover some things. We find ourselves immersed in a frog pot of human emotion from anger to disbelief, to political ideological perspective, to hurt, to pain. I have thought so many times of our elderly people in the United States, many of whom stood in platforms such as this one, who were respected, who were men and women who carried voices of authority, who were distinctive in their service to this society and to the United States of America, who raised their children in the knowledge and fear of the Lord Jesus.

But many of our elderly today in nursing homes and other centers find themselves captive to a vast array of human emotion with no means of escape and to make matters worse with no one to listen to, no one to talk to. I think rather not today, if we're going to understand where God would lead us, perhaps we need to do the impossible and we need to subject our human feelings and we need to subject our strong belief in the system. Well, perhaps where we should go is to we the people. After all, we are Americans, we the people, the great constitutionality, the center of the world, the very pivotal point upon which civilization revolves, we the people.

We the people decide based upon the inalienable right of all people who believe that they have the capacity to determine what it is that God has held only for himself. We the people. Yes, a people of diversity. We are a nation of diversity.

This is a nation of landed immigrants, people from every walk of life and we pride ourselves upon that. But we the people, if we resort to going back to raising the flag and saying it depends upon we the people, we must of necessity begin to ask ourselves, what is it that we the people have already put in place in America? Is it possible that God could be speaking to we the people within the context of our own simplicity and foolhardiness to remind us that we are the people, but we are a people under God.

We do not stand on our own recognizance. We the people, from sea to shining sea, God bless America, this great nation of people. And sadly to say, my dear friends, this morning, if we the people do not wake up and understand what is going on in America today, our diversity, which is a cherished attribute of the character of these United States, is going to change from diversity to disunity. And if there is anything that the world out there today mocks and revels in, it's not the diversity of the constitutionality of the United States of America, it is the disunity that is beginning to spring up from within, which we the people must bear upon their shoulders. We the people, know, may I submit to you today with all the love in my heart, that if we are going to do and respond and be in a time like this, with all respect we cannot turn to Congress and we cannot turn to our human motions and feelings, and we cannot turn to we the people, I'm going to submit to you that we must turn to the Word of God. We have to, because we are a nation under God.

And until the day that Americans understand the constitutional foundation upon which this nation has been founded and grounded, we will never understand what it is that God is saying to us, that we are a nation under God. And so I'm going to submit to you today, my sermon topic is simply this, what would Jesus do? I have in my pocket here a little arm bracelet, it's got the letters on it, WWJD, this is almost as well known as what we're reading in the newspapers today. Young people have them, they're everywhere, they're very popular, it means, what would Jesus do?

I don't think it's ironic that some time ago someone came up with this genius, that all over America today from one wrist and arm band to another, from caps to sweaters, you are seeing WWJD. I think it's time young people that we stand up and we pay up and we take attention to what we're saying, to the billboards that we advertise. And so I submit to you today, what would Jesus do? What do you suppose the Lord Jesus would say to you and me on a day like this? What word of encouragement is there? How can we respond?

How can we come to grips with the multiplicity of our emotions, our political dispensations, the pillars that have been put into place, the constitutionality of the United States of America, the law courts? Where do we find ourselves in this? What would Jesus do? May I submit to you in the first place, and these are not in order of priority, that Jesus would remind us of the damage that can be done to our children today. I think we need to be very careful, my dear friends. Jesus had such a tenderness for children.

He gathered them on His knee, time without number. And I'm going to submit to you today, moms and dads and grandparents, newspapers, Congress, that it's one thing to believe in the inalienable rights of all Americans to have access to whatever they want, but it's another thing to put X-rated material in front of the eyes of all people, irregardless of the consequences and no matter whom you want to try and convince about whatever issue. It is never justifiable to take a nation and to drag a nation down into the sewers of hell itself. The sad part is that we have children, that even though as adults we do not believe that they become impacted by things like this, I want to say to you with all the love in my heart that if we do not take this seriously with our children, many of our children can grow up marred and scarred in ways that we are not willing to admit.

Why? Because they are seeing license. They are learning new levels of public acceptability. They are seeing justification. They too, together with us, are watching thousands upon thousands of people lining up, trying to get a little bit more of a juicy titbit so they can take it back home with them to read.

They're watching the internet being jammed up by Americans. I think that the Lord Jesus would say to us today, suffer the little children. You might say to me, pastor, what can we do? I've got three suggestions. Parents, they all begin with S's.

You might want to write them down. First of all, speak up. Talk to your children. Just gather them around and talk to them.

Don't make assumptions. Don't sit there and watch television and think because of their age that they're not hearing, that they're not watching. Understanding these things that go on is a different issue, but there is created within the heartbeat of a child a turmoil that begins to erupt like a volcano. They read it on our faces. They can feel the intensity of this preacher preaching who finds it difficult to laugh and to smile in the midst of material of this nature.

Speak to them. Number two, simplicity. Don't ever feel like you have to go into details. Totally unnecessary. You don't need to get down in that sewer rat pit with everybody else. Don't ever feel as though you have to go into explanations. Don't join with all these people who believe that it doesn't matter what happens. We give children whatever they want and that we just live in a free society. Don't buy into that hogwash.

Don't ever allow yourself to be taken down the same track that we've been taken down by many of our leaders today that seek to say that parents are absolved from responsibility and that children's rights are a right to be able to listen and do and be anything that they want to be because they are Americans. We, the people, have put this in place. Please forgive the interruption, but it's Dr. Don's idea. He insists I remind you we're here for you. We'd love to talk with you, pray with you, connect you with resources. You can do that online at TEWonline.org. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G or this phone number, 866-899 word. Jot it down, store it in your cell, 866-899-9673. We'll connect you with one of us 24 hours a day. We'd love to encourage you.

Now back to today's teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. But the third thing is provide security, that old-fashioned hug, that look, that embrace that we know about mom and dad and grandpa and grandma. Provide security. Our children will look in bewilderment and they may run out to the playground having just heard things, but within their hearts they sense the turmoil and it's frightening.

Speak simplicity and security. What would Jesus do? He would remind us about our children. But in the second place I believe He would remind us that a nation or a people who turn their backs on God are in trouble. He's been trying to tell us that right from before the foundation of the world. It's a biblical principle. It's absolute truth.

It's not a personal conviction or a personal preference. God is true to His Word. There is no error as far as God is concerned. And God means what God says. And if a nation, as nations have done repeatedly, turn their back on God, that nation is in trouble. And if you love history and you go back and you begin to study the cycle of human nations from the Roman Empire down to the Goths and the Visigoths and on and on down the road, you're going to find that every nation that turned her back on God began to crumble not from outside but from inside.

God would remind us of that. But I think in the third place the Lord Jesus would remind us that character does count. Contrary to public opinion in the polling booths, character does count. It's one of the saddest things in these United States of America to see the kind of flag of democracy that we hold up for the world to see.

A kind of democracy in which potential candidates hurl insults and dig up every kind of piece of junk they can about their opposition members and the greatest irony of all is that American people go and vote and they don't vote according to character, they vote according to performance. And God says character counts. How sad that in a time like this presidential polls go up instead of down. We the people.

Why? Because Jesus would remind us that character does count. You say character, pastor, yes, honesty, reputation, fortitude, behavior, integrity, nature, personality, but Jesus would take it further and He would remind us. What would Jesus do? He would remind us that morality does matter. It does matter.

It's not a side issue. Matters pertaining to purity and faithfulness and what Jesus would remind us of in today's world is that the end does not justify the means. I've heard people say it doesn't matter what He does as long as He does a good job.

What a sad commentary. What a pitiful position for a group of people who are under God. That's like me saying to one of my sons, son, I don't care how you get an A at school as long as you get it. I don't care how you run your business as long as you make money.

I don't care if you become sexually immoral as long as you don't fall pregnant before you get married. And the way we're going to overcome this problem is we're going to go around and hand out contraceptives and we're going to hold up the banner of Planned Parenthood. What a despicable disgrace in the United States of America.

That's what's happened. We the people. What would Jesus do? Jesus would remind us about the children. He would remind us that a nation who turns her back on God is in trouble. He would remind us that character does count. He would remind us that morality does matter. And I'm going to say just as a side issue that I believe that those who are in leadership positions from teachers to on down the line, we are going to pay a greater price as leaders.

Why? Because we set the stage. But I think he would say in the fifth instance that sin is serious. That's what Jesus would say. He would say, my friends, in America on September 13th, somewhere in the Bible, I tried to tell you that sin is serious.

In fact, it's so serious that I had to go to the cross in order to provide you a way out. And within the context of what Jesus would teach us with regard to sin, he would remind us that the wages of sin is death. And that all of us are sinners. Every one of us. He would invite anyone in this place to throw the first stone. We the people.

He would invite any one of us. There was a woman in adultery and he said to her, listen, I forgive you but go and sin no more. That's a key issue. He said, judge not that you be not judged.

It's a key issue. But I'm going to say to you that the bottom line is that sin is serious. And the Word of God says, be sure your sin will find you out. Jesus would also remind us that forgiveness is offered. There's not one in America who can stand up and say that this sin here is worse than another. Sin is sin.

And all sin is subject to the absolute forgiveness of God. I'm so grateful for that. Do you know what that means? It means there is hope. It means there is hope for our president. It means there is hope for Congress. It means there is hope for every man, woman, boy and girl. There is hope for me. Do you know why?

Because God's forgiveness is there. It's there. It's available. And today is the day. I just believe it. I believe it. I'm going to pray as you listen to these words from our pastor, Dr. Wilton, that you would be ready to say yes.

Here's Dr. Don. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner.

And I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin. And by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If the Lord has moved you, I don't want to talk you into anything. I couldn't talk you into anything. That's not our job. That's not our calling. But if God has stirred your heart and you know you need to make a course correction, and perhaps you just prayed with Dr. Wilton, you need to let someone know.

And why not let us know? We would love to put some resources in your hands that will help you grow, whether you've said yes to Jesus for the very first time, or perhaps you've come back to Jesus, and you want us to pray you through a solid recommitment to living for Christ every day. Again, we're here for you at 866-899-9673 and online at tewonline.org. Many of folks are asking, how do you get involved? How can you prayerfully and financially support this ministry?

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